Heartwarming / Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

Per wiki policy, spoilers are unmarked on Heartwarming Moments pages.

• When Shadow decides to leave and find Peter. The dialogue combined with the delivery and the Background Music is just too much.
  Shadow: Something's really wrong.
  Chance: Wake up and smell the kibble; they dumped us!
  Shadow: No, it isn't true!
  Chance: They love you and they dump you.
  Shadow: Not Peter!
  Sassy: You could be right, Shadow. It's been too much time, way too much time.
  Shadow: Something is keeping Peter from coming to me, so I'm going to go to him.
  Chance: You guys kill me; she locked the gate, remember?
  Shadow: I don't care about gates. (looks over at the barrels next to the gate, then gets up) I'm going home.
  Sassy: What?
  Chance: (lifts head) What did he say? (sees Shadow leap onto the barrels and over the gate) No... way.
  • And then Sassy goes right after him. She tries to tell Shadow it's a bad idea, but when Shadow runs off, she's right behind him.
• When Peter is going to the police station to get the cops to help them out, the officer says chasing runaway pets isn't what they do. However, in the face of Peter's grief-stricken anger and mention of how important this is to him and his siblings, he offers an idea that helps them in the long run.
• Another thing about Chance and Sassy's relationship — just look at the whole river sequence. Chance and Sassy are doing their usual routine of bickering, but the second Shadow says Sassy's in the river...
  Chance: (running as fast as he can) Hang on, Sassy!
  • Later
  Chance: (obviously worried) Did you find her? Where is she?!
• Shadow's speech about why dogs attach themselves to humans:
  Shadow: ...I shouldn't have made her come.
  Chance: It's not your fault, she wanted to come.
  Shadow: But it's my responsibility. I had a responsibility to Sassy, to love her and protect her. The same as I have to you... and to Peter. And the same as you have to Jamie.
  Chance: But we didn't ask for this job.
  Shadow: We didn't have to. It's built in. Has been ever since the dawn of time, when a few wild dogs took it upon themselves to watch over man — to bark when he's in danger, to run and play with him when he's happy, to nuzzle him when he's lonely. That's why they call us man's best friend.
  • Followed by Narrator Chance reflecting on this moment:
    Chance: (narrating) Looking at him that night, he seemed so wise and ancient. Like the first dog that ever walked the earth. And I just hoped that one day… I could be like him.
• Sassy and the birdwatcher. The man found a cat washed up on the riverbanks and, out of the goodness of his heart, fed her and took care of her until she could leave on her own.
• The deleted scene in the TV version of the man playing his sax and Sassy worrying about how Shadow and Chance are doing without her.
• When Sassy is reunited with Chance and Shadow. ^note Except for the brief Mood Whiplash where Chance runs through a gopher hole, but the directors left it in for that exact reason.
  Shadow: Sassy!
  Chance: Sassy!
  Sassy: My boys! My boys!
  Chance: Sassy, Sassy! Whoops, gopher hole!
  Sassy: Chance! Shadow!
  Shadow: Sassy!
  Sassy: Oh, Shadow, I thought I'd never see you again—
  Shadow: Oh, I missed you so much, Sassy.
  Chance: Yeah, me too.
  Sassy: Really?
  Chance: Well, we could've used you around.
  Sassy: [laughing] I missed you too, Chance.
  • This is sweeter when you find out that the sprinting isn't an act; the trio of animals adored each other so much that they were that happy to see their friends again. The trainers barely had to do a thing for this scene.
• Later on when Chance gets porcupine quills stuck in his face, Sassy shows concern when she can't get them out. Later, she tries to assure Chance when they go to cross another river.
  Sassy: Don't worry, Chance. The water, it isn't so bad.
  Chance: Yeah, sure.
  Sassy: No, really. (addresses Shadow) If we can just hold his head above the water...
• When Laura tells Peter that Bob made fliers to help find the pets, Peter is surprised and moved.
• Some may call it shmaltz and glurge, but the scenes with Molly, the little girl lost in the mountains, are difficult to watch without shedding at least one tear of joy, especially when she and her parents are reunited.
  • The scene where she goes to Shadow. "Doggy?" Poor girl's been alone all night in a strange place and is rightfully terrified, but after Shadow whines a bit to reassure her, she clings to him like her life depends on it, all while Shadow continues to display his natural protective instincts.
    Shadow: No... Don't be afraid. Good dog. [Molly clings to him, sobbing] It's okay. It's okay...
  • Shadow hears a group of humans hunting for Molly and goes to fetch them. Before he does so, he asks Sassy to lie down with Molly to keep her warm. Sassy complies, and Molly clearly likes having her there.
  • Shadow brings back Molly's father and everyone follows him. As his wife is clutching their little girl, Molly's father crouches down to Shadow's level and, in a slightly broken voice, thanks him for saving their daughter.
• At the end when the kids and Bob are playing basketball and they call him Dad. That LOOK Bob gets on his face when Peter, who had struggled to accept him as family, says so casually, "Yeah, come on, Dad," is adorable.
• The ending. Chance, Sassy, and Shadow reunite with their family (in that order), and it's pretty hard for pet lovers not to know what their owners are feeling.
  • Shadow reuniting with Peter, especially. The line "Peter, I worried about you so!" just piles on the emotion. Here Shadow is limping and having gone through an incredible ordeal and he says he was worried (although Peter was worried about Shadow too.)
• The movie ends with Chance realizing he's got a family and a nice home. The incredible journey helped him finally accept his place.
  "At last, for the first time in my life, I was home."

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